Type: Tactical Urbanism
Size: City-wide
Status: Ongoing
The Miami-Dade Transportation Quick-Build Program is an ongoing collaboration between Street Plans, Green Mobility Network, and the Miami-Dade County Department of Transportation and Public Works (DTPW) dedicated to making it easy for citizens to make meaningful improvements to their neighborhoods. In addition to getting infrastructure projects in the ground, the overarching objectives of the program include: empower Miami-Dade County residents to voice their own ideas for transportation projects; form a working relationship with the Department of Transportation and Public Works to enable easier delivery of citizen-proposed projects in the future; and foster partnerships between residents, advocacy groups, agencies, and government entities.
The Program started as a county-wide open competition for transportation pilot projects. Street Plans created the marketing and outreach materials for the program, including the logo and overall brand identity. Workshops were held once a month between January and June 2017 across the county to teach the quick-build process, encourage attendees to apply, and brainstorm application ideas. In July, a selection committee comprised of Street Plans, the DTPW, Miami-Dade County Dept. of Parks, Recreation, and Open Spaces, Green Mobility Network, and TransitCenter selected 18 (out of 68 applications) based on criteria like geographic diversity, feasibility of installation, proximity to transit, matching funds, connection to adjacent community assets, etc. The selected projects included separated bus lanes, separated bike lanes, bus stop improvements, traffic calming measures, and wayfinding.
The program kicked off in November 2017 with Plaza 98, a pavement to plaza project in Miami Shores Village that transformed a portion of a street into a temporary plaza to be used for periodic community events. Following Plaza 98, two wayfinding projects were installed in the neighborhood of Little Havana, Miami for both the city’s trolley system, and the county Metrobus system. The program returned in October 2018 with Taste of Avenue 3, the fourth project in the line-up. This multi-part street activation demonstrated how much more space could be given back to pedestrians on NE 3rd Avenue in Downtown Miami. The parking lanes were painted, and the street was closed for a block party on the final day of the project. The street party brought out over 400 visitors, with people spending time in the street, and patronizing local businesses. The activation was meant to be the first as a part of a long-term community-led initiative to pedestrianize the street called Avenue 3 Miami.
